Liebherr's Corner - The Off-Topic Chat Thread

To be honest LTL, I'm not at all sure when I was ever actually on it. I'm sure there was a time, back in the 1960's and 70's as a kid, hearing stories about Stirling Moss, watching Jim Clark, Jackie Stewart or Graham Hill that was exciting. Yet it was stories of John Surtees and Mike Hailwood that really got me going [should have spotted that then, could have saved myself a lot of time wasted], both ex-bike racers. Then, when Grand Prix was transmitted by the Beeb, I kind of tagged along. I think the last driver I was actually interested in was Nigel Mansel, but really it was just a habit. I like racing to be done on the track, not in the pits. Overtaking, slipstreaming, out manoeuvring. F1 did used to do that a fair bit, but MotoGP does it in spades, every race. Even the boring ones.

There is also the element of personality. The F1 drivers from the eras way back seemed to be much more connected with their public. Bike racers of today are still like that. They smile, laugh, grimace, wave at the cameras, make gestures etc.., and are jovial interviewees. Cal Crutchlow is always playing pranks on the presenters. Mind you that's stopped since he signed for Ducati. Now he's in a permanent bad mood, cause the bike is simply crap. But he's a rich man now on a factory machine. And they pay so dearly for their mistakes. Bike racing is a very hard thing to do. Most F1 drivers are huge fans. Michael Schumacher, for example, who even raced some bikes after he retired from F1 the first time. Thing is, as a viewer or fan, once you are connected with the personalities, the racing becomes more involving. You care. I don't connect with F1 drivers and hardly ever have.

Cars themselves have never wholeheartedly appealed to me. I know a bit about the mechanics, and I have had some rapid ones. My SAAB 900 Turbo was a right old BMW killer, but then so was the Injection before it. Just about. They were fun, but it was all a bit safe. Just riding a bike down to the shops makes a boring journey into something of an adventure. You never return home the shortest way [unless it's pissing down and you've got the dry gear on] and you can even pootle along and it's great. You see and experience so much more than a car driver can, and generally that's a good thing. It also takes a bit of effort to ride a bike. It's a very active experience. There's no way you can fall asleep because there is so much going on. There's all these mobile chicanes to look out for, for a start.

Much as it may surprise you, but bike riders are a nice lot. They always nod their heads in Hello, as one crosses their path on the journey. The snobs tend to be Cruiser/Harley people [I kid you not], although most of them are absolutely fine too. Usually, they waggle a foot in greeting as they pass, unless they are too cool at being all things Harley. Sometimes it gets so much that one resembles the nodding dog that used to sit on the back shelf of a car, so occasionally I'll waggle a foot in return. What you never see from a proper biker is sheer unprovoked rudeness or bad manners. Only on Saturday I was riding back from Wickham and was following a guy driving his family somewhere, when he threw an empty cigarette packet out the window. I overtook him, gently wagging my head from side to side. He understood my disapproval, but instead of looking a little apologetic at being caught, or mouthing Sorry, he screwed his face up into sheer anger and let fly. Thankfully, I couldn't hear him, but his tiny kids had a few new words to practice, I'm sure. A bike rider would never do that. We're enjoying ourselves too much.

Sorry I went from the specific to the general there.

 

Let's all just agree that the wheel and the internal combustion engine are pretty cool things.

 

Now Chariot Racing... that's a sport and a half..!

 

Oh wow, I thought I was the only one.

 

That's a sport for real men without their sissy combustion engines doing all the work for them. Nothing like a Saturday at the hippodrome with a flagon of sour wine, cheering on your favourite charioteer.

 

Charlton Heston was my favourite, but he went all NRA when guns were invented. Stephen Boyd was the other one, but he was the villain of the piece. Nobody likes a dirty driver.

[video=youtube;Rh8GK3xSMaU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rh8GK3xSMaU[/video]

 

Well I dunno who those guys are but I'm a Gaius Appuleius Diocles fan. Yes, yes, call me a glory hunter all you like but I was born a Gaius supporter.

 

He's the guy who is reputed to be the richest sportsman ever, is that right..?

 

According to this historian, yes: http://www.laphamsquarterly.org/roundtable/roundtable/greatest-of-all-time.php

 

Haha, fear not, I love bike racing and bikers too! I'm an in discriminating petrol head. Apart from NASCAR.

Interestingly having this very same discussion with an F1 mad mate this evening - he was taken to Austin for the US GP last year by Ferrari, is a mental Senna obsessive (and has just bought a 458 Speciale too!) - he's been an F1 but since he was 11 but didn't watch the last race because he's just lost a bit of love and feels disconnected now.

We kind of concluded that we miss the almost 'hero worship' feel to these death-defying crazy men - of course safety is great, but it's now almost like they're driving simulators.

I don't want to see death, but I do want to fear it. You still have that fear with MotoGP which perhaps means you feel more of an emotional connection?

 

Juan Roman Riquelme just scored in what will probably be his last ever Superclásico... listen to the noise when he scores.

[video=youtube;ZP3ArYY-eVU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZP3ArYY-eVU[/video]

 

So does anyone here play Audiosurf?

 

Fecking commentator. But yeah, Boca legend. Great moment.

 

Great free kick at that. Remember several years ago when he completely destroyed England.

Google tells me it was 2005. Blimey.

 

Close advisor to Putin says he is targeting the reclaim of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Finland, as well as Belarus.

Hopefully not...

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/w...-finland-for-russia-adviser-says-9224273.html

 

Good luck with that, Mr Putin. Three of those countries are NATO members. Four are in the EU.

 

Dnipro footballer Jaba Kankava prevents Dynamo Kyiv footballer Oleg Gusev from swallowing his tongue after being knocked out in a collision with his own goalkeeper.

[video=youtube;UfQ8_RvjjfE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfQ8_RvjjfE[/video]

 

Great reaction by the guy, but swallowing your tongue is literally impossible.

 

Quite possibly the strangest thing I've ever come across.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=623594937720814&set=vb.619457018134606&type=2&theater

 

If you're unconscious, it's very easy for the tongue to slip back and block your airway, preventing you from breathing. This is commonly known as swallowing your tongue, and is the reason why we have procedures such as the recovery position - to stop this from happening.